What Factors Determine if You Should Demolish a Flood-Damaged Business Structure in Wilmington?

4/15/2020 (Permalink)

Flooding has become a more common occurrence in Wilmington.

Opting for Demolition when Your Commercial Business Sustains Flood Damage in Wilmington Can Be a Hard Choice. SERVPRO Can Guide You Through this Troubling Time.

 Decades ago, flooding around Wilmington was similar to lightning strikes – one-time events that never happened in the same place twice. In more recent years, though, flooding seems to repeat itself in different communities, coming back to traumatize residents who expected repeat flooding less than they ever did the first time around.

 Because of this new propensity for repeat flooding in different areas, including Wilmington, many experts recommend the demolition of commercial buildings once they succumb to a flood. The options of either relocation to higher ground or rebuilding with flood-resistant capabilities ensure the continuation of a business. SERVPRO can help get your business, warehouse, factory, or retail setting ready for demolition and help you through the rebuilding process.

 We serve all businesses, regardless of type or size, throughout the area. Because we are local, we understand the community's needs, the experiences we all have in common, and can help make things cohesive again. The sooner you can rebuild, the sooner you can provide your products or services to the community again.

 Before demolition, we must ensure that all the paperwork is ready and that your salvageable inventory and equipment no longer occupies the area. Your inventory sheets should reflect each item. You must remove salvageable items like metal staircases or recyclable materials before we begin. If needed, we can assist you in their retrieval. Once demolition starts, entering the premises becomes extremely dangerous.

 Tearing down the business you and your family own can be a very trying time, but we can assure you that rebuilding means a bright future. While elevating your business might seem a better option, the drawbacks to this are quite extensive. You need to relocate electrical, plumbing, and gas lines, as well as any communications systems' cabling. Entryways need new staircases, as well as reinforced doors. Windows often require resizing to accommodate reinforced walls built below them. Stability becomes a concern, also, as the footprint must remain the same and must not become larger than the original footage, even when additional space is available. Demolition with subsequent rebuilding from scratch solves these issues.

 While we can also demolish partial areas of a structure, or only interior area, after a significant flood, many changes weaken the current building. We want to help you do better than making it “Like it never even happened.” We want to help you make it so it cannot ever happen again.

SERVPRO of New Hanover can help make flooding a non-issue for you and your Leland or Elizabethtown area business. Demolition might seem extreme, but the work involved in coming back after a flood is also extreme. Call us at (910) 762-8180 so we can get things stable and secure for you.

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